miriness 
miriness (mir'i-ncH), >i. The state of being 
miry, or covered with deep mud. 
Miris(mi'ris), . [NL. (Pabriciiis, 1803); etym. 
dubious.] The typical genus of Miridte. Be- 
tween liO and 30 species are known, mainly 
European; 6 are North American, as M. dor- 
sdlia. 
mirish (mir'ish), <i. [< mirr 1 + -wfti.] Miry. 
miriti-palm (mir'i-ti-pam), . Same as ita- 
IHI/IH. 
mirk, mirkily, etc. See murk*, etc. 
mirligoes, w. See merligoeg. 
miro (me ro), . [Native name.] A New Zea- 
land coniferous tree. I'odocarpus ferruginea, 
called lilin-l; /line by the colonists. It yields a 
hard brown timber suitable for turnery, cabi- 
net-making, and civil architecture. 
mirret, . A Middle English form of myrrh. 
mirror (mir'or), n. [Early mod. E. also mir- 
rour, myrror ; < ME. mirrour, myrrore, myr- 
roiire, myroure, mirour, < OF. mireor, mirour, 
inirur. V. miroir = Pr. mirador = It. miratore, 
iiiinidiirr, a looking-glass (= Sp. mirador, a look- 
out, balcony: see mirador), < ML. as if "mira- 
tiirinm, < L. mirari, wonder at, ML. mirare ("> 
It. mirare = Sp. Pg. mirar = F. mirer), look at, 
< minis, wonderful: see admire, miracle.] 1. 
A polished surface, as of metal, or of glass 
backed by a metal or other opaque substance, 
used to reflect objects, especially to reflect the 
face or person as an aid in making the toilet. 
I'ln- mirrors of the ancients were of polished metal, ai 
are those of the Japanese and some other Oriental nations. 
Glass mirrors, consisting of transparent glass with a back- 
ing of metal I" act as the reflecting surface, did not be- 
come common until the sixteenth century. Mirrors have 
been used for decoration of the person, being sewed to 
the material of the dress and serving as larger and more 
brilliant spangles; they have also been used in the Inte- 
rior decoration of buildings, especially in Persia and the 
East Indies. (Compare ardith.) The common method of 
preparing glass mirrors is to coat one side of the glass 
with an amalgam of tin and mercury (called silecnng), 
but mirrors are now often made by depositing pure silver 
on the glass. 
Now in this mimwr loke jou BOO ; 
In joure free wille the choice lijs. 
To heuen or helle whither 36 wille goo. 
Hymnt to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.X p. 78. 
In this mirrour she shall see 
Her self as much transform 'd as me. 
Congreve, Semele, 111. 8. 
2. Specifically, in optics, a surface of glass or 
polished substance that forms images by the 
reflection of rays of light ; a speculum. Optical 
mirrors are plane, convex, or concave. A plane mirror 
gives a virtual image whose apparent position is on the 
opposite side of the mirror from the reflected body and at 
an equal distance from it. A concave spherical mirror (sup- 
posing that it includes only a small part of a large spheri- 
cal surface) reflects 
rays parallel to its 
axis, as those from 
the sun, to a point 
I /' In flg. 1) called 
the principal Jo- 
cut, whose distance 
from the mirror is 
equal to half the 
radius of the sphere 
of which the surface of the mirror forms a part. Kays 
proceeding from a luminous point upon the axis beyond 
the center (L in flg. 2) are reflected to a focus, /, between 
the center and F; 
two 
call- 
and these 
points are 
ed conjugate foci, 
since they are in- 
terchangeable ; a 
luminous body at 
/. has a real in- 
verted and dimin- 
ished image form- 
ed at/. If, however, the luminous body be at/, the image 
is formed at /., also real and inverted, but magnified. If 
the luminous body Is at F, the principal focus, the re- 
flected rays are sent out in parallel lines; if nearer the 
mirror than F, the rays after reflection are divergent, and 
the image is virtual, erect, and magnified. In a concave 
parabolic mirror parallel rays are Drought exactly to a 
focus at the geometrical focus ; hence this form is suita- 
ble for reflectors, as in the headlight of a locomotive. 
'I In- images formed by convex mirrors are always virtual 
and smaller than the object 
3. Figuratively, that in or by which anything 
is shown or exemplified; hence, a pattern; an 
exemplar. 
That hunk [the Koran] seythe also that Jesu was sent 
from God allefnyghty for to ben Myrtnir and Ensample 
and Tokne to alle men. MandeviUe, Travels, p. 133. 
How farest thou, mirror of all martial men? 
SAa*.,lHen. VI., I. 4. 74. 
4. In arch., a small oval ornament surrounded 
by a concave molding; a simple form of car- 
touche. 5. In ornith., same as xpi'i'iiliini. 
Archimedean mirror, a mirror intended for burning an 
enemy's ships or hoardings: proposed or essayed more 
than once in the middle wes. in imitation of the mirrors 
mentioned by I.ucian as used by Archimedes. Grtw. Mil. 
Antlq., II. 167. Axis of a spherical, concave, or con- 
Fig. i. C, center ; F. focus. 
Fig. >. C, center ; f, focus. 
3783 
vex mirror. 8a <uui. Claude Lorraln mirror, a 
blackened convex glass designed to show the effect of a 
landscape reflected In somewhat exaggerated perspective : 
so called from the fanci. "f its effects to the 
pictures of Claude Lorrain (Itiuo :!), a landscape-painter 
celebrated for his n-u-li i ink' of sunlight and shadow and 
llght-rtfecta in general. Also called Claude glaa. Con- 
jugate mirrors. fcetm/t/nfc. Cylindrical mirror. 
Bee tylindric. Easel-mirror, a small mirror having a 
prop or foot fastened to the back of it by a hinge so that, at 
pleasure, the mirror may be set up on one edge. Magic 
mirror, (a) A mirror In which, in various systems of 
fortune-tilling or divination, a person was supposed to see 
reflected scenes in his future life, or an answer to some 
question. (6) A Japanese mirror of cast-metal, which, 
when made to reflect the sun's rays upon a screen at a 
proper distance, shows In the reflection bright images 
which are counterparts of raised figures or characters on 
the back of the mirror. These, like all Japanese mirrors, 
are generally circular in form, are about one eighth of an 
Inch thick in the thinnest part, and are usually surrounded 
on the back by a raised rim. The surface of the mirror Is 
generally slightly convex, and coated with an amalgam of 
mercury and the metal forming the mirror. The surface 
Is locally modified In its curvature by the characters, either 
by the shrinkage of the metal in cooling, or by its deforma- 
tion In the process of amalgamation or of polishing. Only 
a few of the mirrors which apparently answer to the gen- 
eral description in respect to their construction possess 
the " magic " property In any great degree. Soemmer- 
ing's mirror. In microscopy, a plane mirror of polished 
steel, smaller than the pupil of the eye, placed beforo the 
eyepiece of the microscope to be used like the camera 
luclda In making drawings. 
mirror (mir'or), v. t. [< mirror, .] To re- 
flect in or as in a mirror. 
Bending to her open eyes. 
Where he was mirror'd small In paradise. 
Ktati, Lamia, II. 
Fiction . . . more than any other branch of literature 
mtrrurt the popular philosophy of the hour. 
Contemporary Ret., XLIX. 590. 
mirror-black (mir'or-blak), a. An epithet ap- 
Elied to any ceramic ware having a lustrous 
lack glaze, especially a rare and highly es- 
teemed Japanese stoneware of ancient manu- 
facture. 
mirror-carp (mir'or-karp), . A variety of the 
common cam, Cyprinux earpio, in which the 
skin is mostly naked, but has patches of very 
large scales on the back and also above the 
anal fin, and on the tail and the posterior part of 
the lateral line. It is the result of artificial selection 
and domestication, and in regarded as a better table-flsh 
than the ordinary carp. See cut under earp2. 
mirror-galvanometer (mir'or - gal - va - nom'e- 
ter), n. A galvanometer with a mirror attach- 
ed to the needle which reflects a beam of light 
intercepted by a scale of equal parts. The spot 
of light on the scale serves as an index Thom- 
son's mirror-galvanometer. See galvanometer. 
mirror-script (mir'or-skript), . Writing as 
seen (reversed) in a mirror. Such writing is 
characteristic of a certain form of aphasia. 
mirror-stone? (mir'or-ston), . Muscovite: so 
called because it " represents the image of that 
which is set behind it." E. rhilli/ts, 1706. 
mirror-writer (mir'or-ri'ter), . One who 
writes mirror-script. 
Mirror-vrHen, it would appear, if they did not "live 
before Agamemnon," lived not very long after him ; for 
the first seven letters of that chieftain's name are so writ- 
ten In an Inscription In the Louvre (Hall of Phidias, 69). 
Proc. Soc. Pinch. Research, in. 41. 
mirth (merth), n. [< ME. mirth, mirthe, merthr, 
inurth, myrthe, tniirthe, murgthe, < AS. mirigtli, 
mirath, mirhth, myrth, pleasure, joy: with ab- 
stract formative -th, < mirig, myrig, pleasant: 
see Bierr^ 1 .] It. Pleasure; joy. 
For-thi god of his goodnesse the fyrste gome Adam. 
Sette liyni In solace and In souereigne myrthe. 
Piers Plmanan (B), xvllL 217. 
He schall bryngc tham to blys 
That nowe in bale are bonne. 
This myrthe we may not mys, 
For this same is Goddls sonne. 
York Playt, p. 189. 
2. A state or feeling of merriment ; demonstra- 
tive gaiety; jollity; hilarity. 
So mekill mirth gan with tham mete 
Of nobill noyse and sauore swete. 
Holy Rood (E. E. T. 9.\ p. 76. 
Present tiiirth hath present laughter. 
Shall., T. N., 1L 8. 49. 
Great was the mirth In the kitchen, 
Likewise Infill the ha'. 
Earl Richard (Child's Ballads, III. 276). 
3. A cause or subject of merriment ; that which 
excites gaiety or laughter. [Bare.] 
Fayn wolde I don yow mirthe, wiste I how. 
And of a mirthe I am right now bythought, 
To doon you ese, and it shal coste nought, 
Chaucer, Prol. to C. T., 1. 767. 
He's all my exercise, my mirtA. my matter. 
Shot., W. T., I. 2. 166. 
= Syn. Mirth, Cheerfulness. 
I have always preferred cheerfulness to mirth. The lat- 
ter I consider as an act, the former as a habit, of the mind. 
mis- 
MirtH Is short and transient ; cheerfulness, fixed and per- 
manent. Those sre often raised Into the grratrst trans- 
ports of mirth who are subject to the greatest depressions 
of melancholy ; on the contrary, rhrrrfulnrit (though H 
does not give the mind such an exquisite K I adnrss) pre- 
vents us from falling into any depths of sorrow. J/trfA 
Is like a flash of lightning, that breaks through a gloom of 
elouils. and glitters for a moment ; cheerfulness keeps up 
a kind of daylight In the mind, and fills It with a steady 
and perpetual serenity. Addi*m, Spectator, No. .SSI. 
mirtht (merth), r. [< ME. mil -tin . < mirth, . ) 
1. i runs. To please or make merry. 
Lorde, som prayer thou kenne vt, 
That somewhat myght inirthr is or mende T. 
York I'layt, p. 241. 
H, iiitran>t. To rejoice, lliilinn II. 
mirthful (im'-rth'ful), a. [< mirth + -//.] 1. 
Full of mirth or gaiety; characterized by or 
accompanied with merriment ; jovial ; festive. 
The Feast was senr'd : the Bowl was crowiTd; 
To the King's Pleasure went the mirthful round. 
I'rt'if, Solomon, II. 
The mirthful is the aspect of ease, freedom, abandon, 
and animal spirits. The serious Is constituted by labour. 
difficulty, hardship, and the necessities of our position. 
which give birth to the severe and constraining Institu- 
tions of government, law, morality, education, etc. 
A. Bain, Emotions and Will, p. 261. 
2. Causing or provoking mirth or merriment. 
And now what rests, but that we spend the time 
With stately triumph*, mirthful comic shows? 
Shalr., 3 Hen. VI., v. 7. 44. 
Tell mirthful tales In course that fill the room with 
laughter. Beau, and Ft., Maid's Tragedy, I. 1. 
= 8yn. 1. Jovial, etc. (see jolly), gay, gleeful, sportive. 
playful. 
mirthfully (raerth'ful-i), </r. In a mirthful or 
jovial manner: as, the visitors were mirthfully 
disposed. 
mirthfulness (merth'ful-nes), w. The state of 
being mirthful ; mirth ; merriment. 
A trait which naturally goes along with Inability so to 
conceive the future as to be Influenced by the conception 
Is a childish mirth/ulnea merriment not sobered by 
thought of what is coming. 
//. Spencer, Prin. of Soclol., I 34. 
mirthless (merth'les), a. f< mirth + -less.] 
Without mirth or hilarity; joyless. 
Whilst his gamesome cut-tailed cur 
With his mirthless master plays. 
Drayton, Shepherd's Sirens. 
mirthlessness (merth 'les-nes), n. Absence of 
mirth. 
mirtlet, An obsolete spelling of myrtle. 
miry (niir'i),n. [< ME. myry ; < wii'rci + -y 1 .] 
Abounding with mire or mud ; of the nature of 
mire or mud ; full of mire : as, a miry road ; u 
miry lane. 
Thou should'st have heard in how miry a place, how she 
was In-moiled. Shale., T. of the S., iv. 1. 77. 
miryachit, . A neurosis observed in Siberia. 
characterized by extreme excitability and some- 
times exhibitions of terror, with imitation of 
word and deed and often obscene speech. It is 
similar to or identical with the latah of southern Asia and 
the Malay archipelago, and the affection of the Junipers 
or jumping Frenchmen of Maine. 
mirza (mir'zfi or mer'zft), . [Pers. mirza (> 
Hind, mirza, prop. mir:d), prince; said to be 
a corruption of amir:adeh, son of a prince, < 
amir, prince, ameer (see ameer, umir), + satlrh. 
son; cf. mir, a lord, chief, prob. formi>.] A 
Persian title. When placed after the name of a person 
It designates him as a royal prince ; when before the name 
it Is the title for a scholar. 
mist, and atlr. A Middle English form of 
mis- 1 . [< ME. mis-, mys-, improp. myxfte-, < 
AS. mis- = OS. mis- = OFries. mts- = D. mix- = 
MLG. mitt- = OHO. mitsa-, mi#si-, MHO. mixtte-. 
G. miss-, mix- = Icel. mix- = Sw. miss- = Dan. 
mis- = Gotlu wi*sa-, a prefix, ' wrong,' ' bad,'_as 
in AS. mixdied, a wrong deed, misdeed, mixr&d, 
bad advice, misdon, do wrong, misdo, mixlcedan, 
mislead, mistScan, misteacn, mixtrritan, mis- 
write, etc. ; orig. an independent word,' wrong,' 
'erroneous,' 'having missed': see mi** 1 .] A 
prefix of Anglo-Saxon origin, meaning 'wrong,' 
'bad,' 'erroneous,' or, taken adverbially, 'wrong- 
ly,' 'badly,' 'erroneously,' prefixed to nouns, 
as in misdeed, misfortune, misinform, etc., and 
verbs, mixdo, miscarry, misguide, mixrule, etc., 
including participles, as mistaking, mixbelierinij, 
etc.. mistaken, misspent, etc. It Is different from the 
prefix in minclianre, mifchief, miscount, etc., with which it 
is more or less confused. (Seentu--.) The prefix mw-1 Is 
never accented; the prefix mi>-2 has the accent In some 
of the older words, as mitchief, Miscreant, where its force 
u a prefix is no longer felt. In the following words 
in mu-, the prefix Is uniformly given as mit-1 except 
when the word In which It occurs can be traced to an Old 
French source. In such forms as mifodjititment, etc., it 
is often indifferent whether the formation be regarded u 
rnin-i -f adjuttmrnt or as mind/tut -H mmt. 
